’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ flops at box office

Posted On January 18, 2026January 18, 2026

The latest zombie installment, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, stumbled at the box office on its opening weekend.

The fourth installment in the beloved horror franchise carries on from where 2024’s 28 Years Later ended as viewers are welcomed again into the world of Alfie Williams’ Spike, Jack O’Connell’s Jimmy Crystal, and Ralph Fiennes’ Dr Kelson.

Despite rave reviews from audiences and critics, the new film isn’t quite coming to life on the big screen.

Though the follow-up was projected to garner around $20million at the box office, estimations quickly fell to $13.2million for the three-day and $15million for the four-day period.

The horror only earned $5.6 million on opening day, including previews. This is a considerable drop from 2024’s 28 Years Later, which debuted with a $30million opening weekend.

Reportedly, the film had a net production cost of $63 million, which is on par with the first film’s $60million.

The film’s refusal to kick-start successfully means that Avatar: Fire and Ash is on track to retain the top spot at the box office, rounded out by Zootopia 2, The Housemaid, and Timothee Chalamet-fronted ping pong epic, Marty Supreme.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is directed by Nia DaCosta, written and produced by Alex Garland, with Danny Boyle also taking on producer duties.

Sony has greenlit another addition to the franchise. This one will star Cillian Murphy, although no production start date has been set just yet.

DaCosta recently told Rolling Stone of her vision for the film: “My big pitch when I was talking to the producers, including Danny and Alex, before I came on was, ‘I’m going to make this my own. I’m not going to try to make a Danny Boyle movie.’ Because that’s impossible to make. He’s so special. And it didn’t really interest me”.

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